Plum Cottage happenings and a give-away

 

Good morning Folks ~ The rains finally let up Thursday so I did my errands, got home around noon, ate a sandwich then grabbed my straw hat, sunglasses, got the lawnmower out of the shed, cranked it up and mowed. Boy did it need it. It had been almost two weeks since I did it last. The mower ran out of gas and I ran out of steam, so that I did not finish the little lawn area to the west between the privacy fencing there and the barn. Another time.  I need to weedwack too, but I’ll do that later also.  It felt good to get that much done.

With all the rain we had this week I was stuck indoors so I did more going through and getting rid of ‘stuff’. I read, I crocheted, and thought about things. This journey of being a widow isn’t easy. I’m getting used to being alone and think of my dear husband and his being in heaven, and wonder what that must be like. I cry, I pray, I live and I am thankful for each new day I am blessed with.  Being thankful is positive and raises my spirits. My dear husband is no longer in pain, he is completely well, whole, he is at peace. I am alive, a daughter of The King, and He  is with me at all times. I am thankful for this little haven, for the little cottage, workshop, gardens, birds, butterflies, scents, colors, for friends, for family, for my love of cooking and creating, for books to read, music that touches my heart and soul, for lessons learned.

My 5th bloggiversary will be on the 28th of this month, so I am going to have a give-away and will use random.org to choose the winner.  I will announce the winner on the morning of the 29th.  This is open to only the continental United States.

The prize is a little ‘Give Thanks’ journal.  A place to write down things you are thankful for, or whatever else you might like to write in there. Thoughts or poetry about being thankful, scripture verses that bless your heart, whatever.

I am thankful to all of you, for reading and following my humble blog.  I am thankful for all of the love, encouragement, inspiration you all have given to and been to me, especially since losing my DH this past Dec. You are a wonderful bunch.

Here is the little journal. The color is more of a dusty, mauvey, pale rose, who knows how it will look with your monitor, as they all show colors differently. The fabric is moiré. I crocheted the flower and hand sewed it and the beads to the front of this little book cover. It has a ribbon tie to keep it closed. The size is 3 inches wide by 5 inches high.

Thank you again and I look forward to seeing who the winner will be. 

Just leave a comment here to be included in the drawing.  Make sure I also have a email addy to reach you. Only one entry please.

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I bought some Czech glass beads of a certain size this week to use on my little purses. I need to buy more felt to line purses with and am loving these little creations. My heart is happy working with needles, hooks, threads, beads. I am thankful for the gift God gave me to be able to do this.

Here’s part of my work surface. Several things going at once as you can see.

Here’s a close-up of the beads used for this purse, a sort of smoky rainbow of colors. In the light, they reflect different colors.

I can’t quit crocheting hearts.  Hearts have always been something I loved, and they are even more special to me now.  DH was my love, my encourager, my mentor, my heart is filled with love and many, many memories of him and our life together.

Last week at work, I was crocheting since it was so quiet. (My boss has told me many times through the 16 + years that I’ve worked there that he hopes I have something to do when it is quiet, so I sometimes crochet.) Anyway, a younger woman came in with her husband and she excitedly asked me if I was crocheting and I said yes and she wanted to see what I was doing. I showed her and she said she was just learning and hopes to someday be able to do what I am doing.  I told her she would, it just takes time and practice, plus she loves doing it and her husband encourages her and that’s a big plus.  I told them my husband had encouraged me too, and that I lost him in Dec. and miss his love and encouragement.  I told her to keep crocheting and she said she would.  I showed her the little purse posted here in the blog and she really got excited.

They told me they were sorry for my loss then continued on around the shop looking at the pieces we have. They said goodbye when they left and my eyes filled with tears and when the door closed I sobbed. The loss is overwhelming at times and I just let the tears flow.

Learning new things is exciting, encouraging others to learn is exciting too.

So, don’t be afraid to try new things,

encourage others too,

and let ‘love’ be a part of all that you do.

Love and hugs to all of you ~ FlowerLady